After what’s turning out to be arguably its best season yet, Teen Wolf closed out season 3A with a danger-filled, heart-pounder of a finale that delivered action until the final moments. Seriously, guys. OMG, OMFG, OPP … and all those other things the kids say. [Details on all of it are forthcoming. So proceed with caution, DVRers…]

The episode picked up right where last week left off — with Stiles, Allison, and Scott taking a 16-hour supernatural ice bath (and getting all conveniently wet) in order to determine the location of their parents’ would-be sacrifice. No pressure. Good thing it worked just dandy. But with only four hours until the full moon, they were in a time crunch.

At what was obviously a super convenient time for her, Aiden showed up and asked Lydia for help stopping his brother and Kali, who were going to kill Derek. She obliged, only to end up in the middle of a very violent situation that almost claimed the lives of the twins and definitely claimed the life of Kali. (Jennifer threw a bunch of glass into her. Brutal.) Thankfully, the twins were ultimately spared, which is an impressive accomplishment in a Teen Wolf finale.

Meanwhile, back with Scott and Co., they tried to launch Mission: Rescue the Parentals, but Scott’s dad detained them for questioning, pulling the whole I’m an authority figure so bow to me act. Whatever. Allison pulled a fast one on him and gave him a face full of smoke bomb. After making their escape, they met up with Deucalion, only to split up again: Team Save the Parents (Allison and Isaac) and Team Defeat Jennifer (Scott and Deucalion).

Where was Stiles in all this, you ask? Crashing his Jeep, that’s where. Yup, a poorly timed accident left us momentarily worried that Stiles would mess up his pretty face. (Don’t worry, it was ultimately fine.)

So Scott and Deucalion had a mega-face-off with Jennifer and Derek. For a while, it looked like Deucalion was going to easily take them both, but then he stopped short of doing so. Instead, he tried to convince Scott to kill Jennifer and become the Alpha he was “meant to be.”

“They’re dying, Scott — your mother and the parents of your best friends. Kill her now and it’s over,” he said.

“They’re not dead yet,” Scott retorted.

“Who’s going to save them? Your friends?” Deucalion asked.

Well, actually … yeah, dude. In fact, Stiles escaped from his crushed Jeep just in time to rush to the rescue, saving all the parents from becoming pancakes with a baseball bat. “I always said aluminum was better than wood,” papa Stilinski quipped.

Back at the showdown, the lunar eclipse arrived and Jennifer used the opportunity to beat Deucalion nearly to death. But before she dealt the final blow, Derek convinced her to heal Deacalion’s eyesight so he can see the horror of her Sister of Bloody Face mug. But by healing big D, Jennifer drained her own power, thus giving Derek time to stop the madness and wait out the 15-minute eclipse with a little aggressive exchange.

Jennifer tried to protect herself with the mountain ash circle, but Scott summoned his inner wolf strength and penetrated that ash bubble like it was a, well, bubble. Hello, Alpha Scott!

Once Jennifer was de-circled, Deacalion took the opportunity to slash her throat — but she doesn’t die right there. Instead, we saw her at the tail end of the episode — crawling to nemeton and begging for mercy. Before any mercy was given, Peter Hale showed up and declared his intention to kill Scott and become an Alpha again. (!!!) Except, my best advice is to not phrase it that way. Or else Peter’ll freak out. (“Again? Again? I am the Alpha. I’ve always been the Alpha!” he bellowed. Drama queen.)

Elsewhere: Deucalion was let go but warned by Scott and Derek to behave himself. (“Having your eyesight back won’t matter because you’ll never see us coming,” Scott threatened.) Derek took off with Cora to a TBD location. Allison told her dad in unnecessary French that she wanted to continue training so she could help the weak. And Scott’s dad appeared to be sticking around — despite Scott’s displeasure with the situation.

A few awards:

Best out-of-context quote:

“Stiles, I’m not smelling your dad’s boxers.” — Scott to Stiles

Best quote that doesn’t need context:

“Someone is in desperate need of a manicure.” — Lydia

Best ironic quote

“I’m really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room.” — Scott’s dad, before Allison — his son’s ex-girlfriend — threw a smoke bomb in his face. You were saying something about embarrassment, dude?

So, Teen Wolf fans, what’d you think of the finale? Epic?

Leave your thoughts below and come back in the AM for a postmortem with EP Jeff Davis.

sponsored stories

Get the latest TV news fromEntertainment Weekly

Please Enter a Valid Email AddressPlease Enter a Valid ZIP Address

Thanks for signing up for our newsletter!Check your email to verify your signup.